Synopsis

Four films from the celebrated French master Francois Truffaut. In 'La Peau Douce' (1964), Pierre (Jean Desailly) is a married, middle-aged author who begins an affair with an air stewardess (Francoise Dorleac) while on a lecture tour in Portugal. However, when his wife discovers his infidelity, she becomes consumed with a desire for revenge. In The 400 Blows' (1959), the film that launched the French 'Nouvelle Vague', Jean-Pierre Léaud plays Antoine Doinel, an unruly young Parisian whose unhappiness leads him into trouble. Frequently running away from school and home, Antoine spends much of his time playing with his friends on the steets of the city; but events take a more serious turn when an accusation of plagiarism leads him to quit school and the theft of a typewriter lands him in trouble with the police. 'The Last Metro' (1980) is set in 1942, in a Paris under German occupation. Jewish theatre owner Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennent) has handed over the control of his theatre to his actress wife Marion (Catherine Deneuve) while he hides out in the cellar, hoping to avoid capture by the Nazis. During rehearsals for the next production, the presence of a womanising actor (Gerard Depardieu) and a Nazi-sympathising journalist cause many difficulties for Marion. Eventually, she is forced to decide between her loyalty to her husband and her love for her countrymen, and acts out her solution in the production she has been rehearsing. Finally, in 'Jules Et Jim' (1962), Jeanne Moreau stars as Catherine, the beautiful and unpredictable woman who maintains a delicate relationship with two friends, the quiet German Jules (Oskar Werner) and the romantic Parisian Jim (Henri Serre). The war intervenes and drives the men to the opposing fronts; afterwards, the two quickly resume their friendship, but the balance of their relationship with Catherine is now upset by more adult concerns.